Don’t worry about it! Just read!

I quickly left the room. Sara was waiting for me.

“You okay, Michael? You seem pale.” She looked up at me. She was so cute.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Just can’t believe I have a bed again.” I smiled, attempting to reassure the adorable purple-haired girl. “Worried I’ll lose it already. Ava doesn’t seem to be a big fan.”

Sara scrunched her face up in an annoyed face. Again, I have to emphasize how cute she is. “I don’t know what her deal is. Usually she’s nice, I swear! Maybe she had a long day at work. I don’t know. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine, Sara. Let’s just hope Kate likes me so I don’t get voted out.” I joked.

We made our way back through the living room and into the kitchen/ dining room, which shared the same space. The woman who I had to assume to be Kate was a freckled red-head. She gave me librarian-vibes, based on the clothing choices and wiry glasses.

Sara introduced the final roommate. “Michael, meet Kate. She works at the college library.” Huh. Good guess, me.

Kate looked up from the pizza to me, and turned red. “Sara, you never said it was a guy!” She said in a loud whisper. I was standing directly next to Sara, so I wasn’t sure if the whisper was supposed to mean I shouldn’t hear it?

Ava raised an eyebrow. She was kicked back in a kitchen chair, leaning and balancing herself with crossed legs on the table. “His name is ‘Michael’. What did you expect?”

“I-I thought it was, like, a new-age way to say Michelle!”

Kenzie giggled. “Babe, what’s the big deal?” The devilish look on their face said they knew they were pushing Kate’s buttons

Kate looked petrified at her… partner? That’s the term, right? Sorry. She looked petrified at her partner. “Nothing! I just… didn’t expect it, that’s all!” She quickly looked away from all the girls and looked at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be weird. It’s very nice to meet you, Sara said lots of good things.”

Now it was Sara who looked petrified. Once again, my heart melted at her sweetness. We’ve barely talked, how could she have that much to say?

I took a page out of Kenzie’s book and decided to mess with her. “Lots of good things, huh? Like what?”

Sara quickly responded with a loud, “Nothing! Nothing nice! Dinner time, right? Pizza! Let’s eat? Yes?” She sped over to the pizza and grabbed a slice. It was covered in that weird Lovus-specific topping. I wasn’t huge on it, but it was popular as all hell.

Vocx, as we’ve seen, messes with DNA. They were pioneers in the art of mashing animals together. As a result, food was weird at Lovus. I came from a town where the highlights for foodie culture was the local burger spot that really wasn’t all that good, just had been around a long time. Lovus’ food culture was “hey bro, have you had that new sushi place? The tuna-turkey-penguin-ape roll is killer!”

As far as pizza went, people were obsessed with flaminshark. Flamingo-shark. It was chewy and bright pink. It looked like a round slice of gelatinous Pepto Bismol. It tasted like rubber with sugar. How does flamingo combined with shark even do that? I didn’t understand the hype.

Not one to be rude when given free food, I grabbed a slice regardless. It tasted like shit. Whatever.

“So, Michael; Sara mentioned that you work at Vocx, right? That’s really cool! What area are you researching?” Kate asked after we all settled at the table. I was at the head, with Kate and Kenzie to my left and Sara and Ava to my right. I was clearly the center of attention. All eyes on me. I should have known this dinner would be an interrogation. Isn’t it unfair that they get to learn about me but I don’t get to learn about them for this introductory meal?

“Oh, well, I’m actually just an intern. I-“ I was about to say what we were researching, but the memory of a bomb latched to my spine made me reconsider. What was I allowed to reveal anymore? Could I even mention DNA removal? Wait, could they hear me? See me? How do they know if I snitch? Fuck. I should have just died. That required far less stress.

“- just bring a guy coffee in the morning and run errands. I met Sara at the cafe.”

Ava squinted, seeming to see right through me. She knew I was withholding a portion of the story. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything. I definitely wasn’t winning any points with her yet.

Kate seemed a bit sad at my lackluster role. “Are you in school? I’ve never seen you at the college before. Are you, like, learning something to become a researcher there?”

Oh. Embarrassing. “Ah… well, no. I… I just needed the job. I don’t think I’m smart enough to be a scientist or anything.” Even I had to wince at how pathetic that came off.

Ava snorted. Kate looked at Sara for some reason. Her face read… slight annoyance? I thought she was on my side? Was my incompetence ruining her perception of me? Shit.

Kenzie felt the tension and spoke up to help alleviate. “Michael! Sara mentioned that you aren’t from Lovus, yes? Where are you from, then?” They smiled sweetly.

“Well, nowhere as exciting as you. I’m just from a tiny, no-name town.” I shrugged. I was keeping a casual face, but I really didn’t want to discuss my past if at all possible.

Ava, of course, wasn’t letting that slide. “What’s the name?” She asked. I could feel the venom in her words.

“I… it’s not important, really. Super small town, you guys wouldn’t have heard of it.”

“Who knows, maybe we have. Unless there’s a reason you don’t want us to know.”

I felt cold. “No, just, like… it’s not…” I was stammering. I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s not a big deal, Ava.” Sara looked at her pointedly.

Ava spat back, “I just want to know! It’s a simply fucking question. I’m from New York City! You’re from Seattle! Kate’s from Lovus! Katie’s from Russia! It’s not a difficult fucking question! I just think Michael is hiding something, and I don’t feel safe sleeping in an apartment with some shady mother fucker. You of all people should get that.” Ava looked like she knew she said something wrong. She’d taken it too far. “I… I didn’t mean-“

Sara shoved her chair back as she stood up, a furious look on her face. She didn’t say anything. She simply took a deep breath. “I’m going to lie down. I don’t feel well.” She was gone, and we all heard a door slam.

Kate jumped up and chased after her. “Sara!”

Kenzie looked at Ava. Ava looked sad. I looked at my uneaten food. I fucking hated this pizza.

Ava sighed. I looked up just as she left the room, leaving me alone with Kenzie.

Kenzie looked to me. “Hey. I get it. You aren’t the only one who came to Lovus for a new start, yes? Ava… she…” she looked like she didn’t know what to say. “Don’t worry about it. We’re happy to have you.” They stood up from their chair and came over to me. She leaned down and gave me a kiss on the head before ruffling my hair, like I’m some little kid, or maybe a dog. “Sleep well, Michael. I hope tomorrow we can all get along a bit better.” She smiled. Soon, I was alone. I looked back at my pizza.

-

Wow! 1500 views?! Is that a lot for this site at this early of a story? I’m not sure, but it makes me happy! Thank you all for reading! I’ve been trying to get as much written as possible. I didn’t expect to be so overcome with power for this story. I had never expected to put out a chapter a day (and sometimes two!). I hope you are all enjoying, and I promise big things are to come. We’re still in the stage of planting some seeds (some of which I’m not even sure where they’re going). Is this like other socials? Am I supposed to ask you guys to like share and subscribe and shit? I don’t know.